Casual
by Yumi Hiroko
Summary: Avery is given the remarkable opportunity to showcase her designs at the Arianna Institute's Annual Fashion Show. The only drawback is that she needs a male model, and doesn't have one. That is, until her mother convinces her to ask Karl Fink, and through some miracle, he accepts. Suddenly, she has to deal with Karl while also figuring out her designs! [Cover made on Rinmaru Games]
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Dog With a Blog.**

 **Note: I do not promise a long story, or long chapters, but I do promise that this story will be completed. Eventually.**

Casual

Chapter 1

 _Dear Miss Avery Jennings,_

 _We are pleased to inform you that your preliminary designs were accepted into the Arianna's Institute of Design's annual Fashion Show. This is an incredible honor. As you are aware, the winner of the show will be granted the opportunity to attend our summer session this July. Included are the rules for your final submission. Please send a copy of the paper designs in by June 1st, 2015 and have your outfits (one male, one female) prepared to walk down the runway on June 20th, 2015. We look forward to watching your friends model your designs this summer._

 _Have a splendid day._

 _Marcia Grace_

 _Headmistress of the Arianna Institute of Design_

Avery screamed. A high octave, ear-splitting shriek that shook the foundations of her two story home.

Thumps pounded down the steps and Avery's parents burst through the kitchen doors as Avery began to jump up and down, the piece of paper clutched in her hands. Her parents froze and watched her as they attempted to cover their ears with their hands, a poor attempt at blocking her high-pitched tones.

"Avery! What is it?" her mother said, loud enough to be heard, but not quite a yell.

In response, Avery - who had stopped screaming, but was still jumping uncontrollably - handed her the paper and started waving her hands as she bounced. Mom's eyes sped across the words, Dad hovering over her shoulder. As they finished, they joined Avery in her excited jumping.

They had just calmed down when Chloe tromped in from outside where she had been playing "Vikings and Pirates" with Stan. Avery spit out her good news before Chloe could even say hi, and then they were all springing again. Stan, who had followed Chloe in, chased his tail and howled and jumped up on Avery when she stopped to catch her breath.

Eventually, everyone was calm enough to look at the second page, the one rules for the fashion show. Avery read them out loud.

"Congratulations on being chosen for the 25th annual Fashion Show for the Arianna Institute of Design. Please follow the rules; any deviation will result in disqualification. Good luck.

"One, please choose your models from among your friends. All body types accepted. Try to make sure your design flatters your friend's figures. You will be awarded points on succeeding."

"Two, all private areas of your models must be covered. Anything remotely risque will be disqualified immediately."

"Three, send copies of your final sketches to… by the appointed date. Tardiness is grounds for disqualification."

"Four, your outfits must be complete. Prototypes are not acceptable."

"Five, you and your models must be at the Arianna Institute Hotel and Conference Center in New York City. We look forward to seeing you there"

"Six, don't forget to have fun. Let your flair flow and your imagination shine."

"Is that all?" Mom asked when Avery finished.

She nodded. Her throat was starting to hurt from all the screaming and reading. She read both pieces of paper over one more time, trying to process the overload of information. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her family watched her as she grabbed a glass, filled it with cold water from the sink, and took a deep swig.

"So?" Chloe asked, climbing up on the stool and pulling her wild red hair up in a ponytail. (She'd taken a liken to them recently, and Avery thought she looked adorable with her hair pulled back.)

"So?" Avery repeated, throat feeling much soothed.

"Who are you going to ask to be your models?" Chloe asked.

Avery cocked her head. "Of all things, that's what you're most curious about?"

Chloe shrugged. "Why not? You can't really design your outfits till you have models to put on them, right? Isn't that part of the assignment."

Avery paused for a moment, considering this. Her little sister had a point. If she chose Max over Lindsay, for instance, she'd have to go with a completely different theme, and she'd already decided that the outfits would complement each other. She'd also have to chose models that complemented each other for that to work. "I'm going to call Lindsay and ask her."

"What about the boy?"

What about the boy indeed? Avery didn't have very many male friends. Actually, she didn't have any male friends, just males that she could almost tolerate, like Karl. She shuddered, she really didn't want to use Karl.

"Maybe Tyler could do it?" she suggested.

"Maybe Tyler could do what?" Tyler asked, walking in the kitchen, covered head to toe in mud.

Avery showed him her letter and waited for him to slowly, excruciatingly slowly, read through it. While he worked at it, he grabbed an apple from the basket on the counter and chomped on it, the sound reverberating in the silent room.

"So, you want me to be your male model?" he asked smugly. "Well, I do have the good looks to be a model, and the charisma, and the height." His smirk grew bigger as he listed each narcissistic quality. Then his smile fell and he appeared to be trying to remember something. Tyler pulled out his phone and tapped a few buttons. "Buuuuuut, I have a BMX rally that weekend, so I can't do it."

"Dang," Avery said, resisting the urge to snap her fingers. Her mind flew through the rest of the boys she knew, checking them off one by one as she rejected them. "I'm going to call Lindsay and see what she says."

Mom and Dad nodded and pulled out their phones as she left the room.

"What are you doing?" Chloe asked, highly confused.

Mom shushed her and waved her hand down. "Quiet. We don't want Avery to know."

"Know what?" Tyler asked, chugging a glass of good ol' H2O.

"That we are going to find Avery the perfect male model, but first we have to convince him to do it."

"Who?" Chloe asked when they didn't explain further.

Mom smiled devilishly. "Now why would we tell you that?" She turned and grabbed her husband's arm, pulling them through the empty living room and into his office.

"Who do you think it is?" Chloe asked, turning to face Tyler and Stan.

"No idea, but I hope it's Karl," Stan said, scratching himself behind his bent ear. "That would be fun, don't you think?"

"Fun for us, maybe," Chloe answered, chuckling at the imagined arguments playing out in her head. "But they can't stand each other. What makes you think they could work together on this?"

"Because I don't think Avery will have another choice."

 **End of Chapter 1.**

 **Beta: TiredOfBeingNice**

 **Adios!**

 **\- Yumi**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Dog With a Blog.**

* * *

Casual

Chapter 2

Avery threw her pencil across the room. Why was it so hard to find a boy to wear her outfit?! Every single one that she asked shot her down immediately, and she was out of options. Not to mention all the other problems.

She looked down at the drawings in her sketchbook. Every single shirt, skirt, and dress had a little X next to it. She had a little under two weeks to finish her designs and send them in so that they got there in time, but she had no ideas.

She also had to figure out how to get the three of them to New York when the time came. She had done some brief preliminary research; plane tickets cost about four-hundred dollars a person, and Avery only had about five-hundred in her bank account…

Someone knocked on her door, tearing her out of her reverie. "Avery, can I come in?" her mom asked, poking her blonde head around the door.

"Sure." Avery put her book aside, which she saw she'd been doodling numbers in while she was thinking.

Her mom sat on her bed and reclined on her hand. "So? Any luck?"

Avery sighed, deep and heavy. "No," she groaned.

Mom smiled, and Avery was immediately suspicious. "Heeeey," she leered. "I have an idea. Have you asked Karl yet? I had tea with him yesterday and he told me that he doesn't have any plans for the summer."

Avery visibly gagged. "You aren't serious…"

Mom nodded vigorously. "Completely."

* * *

Avery paced back and forth, phone flipping end over end in her sweaty palms. She'd texted Lindsay over an hour ago and hadn't heard anything from her. Usually she answered within ten minutes. This was unprecedented.

On her bed, Stan watched her, brown puppy-dog eyes anxious. "I think you're going to put a rut in your carpet," he said eventually.

She sighed. "I can't help it. I need to talk to Lindsay and she's not answering her phone. I've sent her six messages already. She should have answered me by now." The worry in her voice was practically malleable.

"You can always talk to me," Stan offered, perking up. His tail thumped on her bed loudly.

Avery gave up and dropped on the bed next to him. "Thanks, Stan, but I don't think you can help me with this."

"Is it about your mom wanting you to ask Karl to be your model?" Avery could practically hear the amusement in his voice. Hence the reason she didn't want to talk to him about this. He would probably be on Mom's side. He liked Karl, and had already heard her gripe about how she didn't have anyone to ask.

"Yes."

Stan jumped on the bed, tail wagging ferociously. "Then you can totally talk to me!"

Avery rolled her eyes and flopped on the mattress. "No I can't. You're not exactly impartial."

"Try me," he challenged.

"Okay. If I told you that I really didn't want to have Karl be my model, what would you say?"

"You should totally get over it and let him be your model," Stan answered matter-of-factly.

Avery flopped back on her bed. She didn't have the energy to shoo him out. Her groan of misery was loud and resonating.

Stan's eyes narrowed. "Fine, if you're going to be like that," he said before trotting out.

Avery rolled onto her side. Way to go from zero to sixty on Stan's bipolar meter. Still, she thought, he has a point. Other than Wes and Karl, she didn't really interact much with boys that weren't related to her; and Wes was clearly not an option, seeing as he'd moved away awhile ago. She rolled to her other side. Which meant she really didn't have an option, much as she was loathe to admit it. She would have to ask Karl Fink.

She sighed. At least he was tall.

* * *

Avery knocked, heavily, on the door of Karl's shed for the upteenth time in the last fifteen minutes. She heard the sound of a crash on the other side and ground her teeth.

"Karl, open up this door!" she shouted. Probably not the best way to convince him to do as she asked, but she was beyond caring. Besides, they weren't exactly the type to be polite when it came to each other. She heard another thud. "KARL!"

"I'm busy," he shouted.

She growled. He was so irritating. "Five minutes," she insisted.

"Don't have five min- Ouuf." Smoke drizzled out of his shed.

Flustered and, she admitted, a little worried, she called, "Karl?!"

The door opened and Karl tripped out, chestnut hair soot-stained and brown eyes a little wild. On this way into the yard, he bumped into Avery and her heart hammered uncomfortably before settling into its usual rhythm. "Damn," he said.

Avery took a few steps back and resumed glowering at him. "About time," she grumbled.

"Huh?" he turned to stare at her. "Oh, you're still here."

Her eyes narrowed as she glared at him. "Yeah, I am. Now will you listen to me?"

Karl glanced at his shed, still spewing smoke. "Five minutes, then I go back to work."

"I want you to model one of my designs for a special fashion show."

He didn't even pause. "No." He turned back to the shed.

Avery grabbed his arm and pulled him back around to face her. His animosity was starting to wear on her frayed nerves. "I wouldn't ask if I didn't have another choice."

Slowly, Karl turned toward her with a slight smile on his face. He looked as if that was exactly what he wanted to hear. "So what's in it for me?"

Avery groaned, she should have known. "Tentatively say yes, and I'll get back to you," she replied, running over her options.

"Tentatively yes. Better make it worth my while, Jennings," he replied as irritatingly sly as he possibly could.

Avery stormed off, hearing Karl chuckle in the background. Why did sixteen year old boys have to be so irritating?

* * *

 **End of Chapter 2.**

 **Beta: TiredofBeingNice**

 **Thanks for reading. Ideas for Avery's bribe?**

 **\- Yumi**


End file.
